


Kitsunegari

by scullywolf



Series: TXF: Scenes in Between [105]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Gen, MSR, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 10:11:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5286749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/pseuds/scullywolf





	Kitsunegari

_“Okay, look, you do me a favor, Scully. Why don’t you give me a call when you think I’ve come to my senses, all right?”_

She crossed her arms and looked down, sighing. He could be so unbelievably stubborn. It wasn’t _always_ a bad thing; when his stubbornness manifested as determination, as unwillingness to give up even in the face of overwhelming odds, it could be a tremendous asset. The problem was that he was just as capable of fixating on something wholly ridiculous and refusing to give up on it despite logic, reason, and all evidence to the contrary.

Combine that with whatever influence he was still under from his encounter with Modell, and there was no getting through to him. She shook her head. At least at the hospital, for the time being, he wasn’t likely to get into too much trouble. Modell would not even be out of surgery for quite a while, and there was no telling when he might regain consciousness, if he did at all. 

Meanwhile, there was more work to be done in order to properly wrap up the investigation. In the event Modell did make it through surgery, there would almost certainly be new charges to file against him, and even though it seemed like an open and shut case, they would require evidence to convict him. She walked outside to find Skinner and ask where he wanted her to begin.

She found him sitting sideways in the driver’s seat of his car, the door open and his feet on the asphalt outside. Elbows resting on his knees, he was leaning forward and staring at the ground. He sat up straight as she drew near, seemed to shake himself, and stood.

“Did you find Modell’s gun?”

“I’m afraid not,” Scully said, frowning. She needed to choose her next words carefully. “Sir, if I may... Though I disagree with Agent Mulder about Modell’s potential motivations, I do have to concur that it is entirely possible we won’t find a gun.”

“I _saw_ it,” he said through gritted teeth. “And I do not appreciate the insinuation that my display of force was anything other than completely justified.”

“I am not suggesting that at all, sir. But we have all seen what Modell is capable of. Perhaps he thought that if you believed he was armed, if he used his ability to make you see a gun that wasn’t there, then maybe he might be able to escape.”

Skinner scowled, shaking his head. Then he blinked and put his hands on his hips. “So what is it you came to tell me, then?”

“I came to ask how you would like me to proceed. We have several avenues of investigation at this point, and I wanted to coordinate with you to see where my attention would be best served right now.”

He squinted, looking over her shoulder toward the safe house. “Follow up on the call that was placed to the prison therapy room. We can’t charge Modell with the therapist’s murder unless we have evidence the call came from him.”

Scully nodded. “Yes, sir.”

***

“Are you sure about the time stamp on this video?”

Scully pointed to the bottom corner of the screen where a paused frame from a security camera showed Modell arriving at the safe house.

The security officer nodded. “Yes, ma’am. System hasn’t been touched since it was installed, and the live feed’s displaying the correct time now.”

It didn’t make any sense. The call to the prison had indeed been traced to Linda Bowman’s room at the safe house, but telephone records indicated that it had been placed almost fifteen minutes _before_ Modell had arrived. He would have been in transit while the therapist was murdered. He could not have been the one who made the call. 

_Oh my God, Mulder was right._

She pulled out her cell phone and tried to call her partner. When it went straight to voicemail, she cursed and hung up, then dialed Skinner’s number.

“Sir, I need to know which agents were responsible for taking Linda Bowman back home.”

“I had a couple of the marshals do it. Why?”

“I have evidence suggesting that it was in fact Linda Bowman and _not_ Robert Modell who made the call and pushed the prison therapist to electrocute herself.”

“What? What do you mean it wasn’t Modell?!”

She made a frustrated noise in her throat. “Phone records show the call being made from Bowman’s room at least fifteen minutes before Modell got there. Look, I don’t know how to explain it, but it appears, sir--”

“I’ll get on the horn to the marshals and tell them to bring Mrs. Bowman back in. Where is Agent Mulder?”

“He followed EMS to the hospital when they took Modell. I just tried calling his phone, but I couldn’t reach him.”

“Well then you’d better get over there. If what you’re saying about the phone records is true, that means…”

“He was right all along.”

_And I doubted him. We all doubted him. But he was right. And now he may be in danger._

There was a pause over the line before he replied. “Keep me posted.”

***

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but he just left about five minutes ago. He said we should give you this if you showed up here.”

The admitting nurse handed Scully a crude paper badge with the word “Nurse” written on the front. Immediately, she recalled how Modell had once walked right through FBI building security with a paper that said “Pass” tucked in his front pocket. Flipping the badge over, Scully saw an address scrawled across the back. She held it up.

“Is this where he went?”

The nurse shrugged. “I don’t know. Makes sense, if he left that here for you.”

_Or he could turn his damned cell phone back on like a civilized person!_

Annoyance briefly won out over worry, and she grumbled an impatient “thank you” to the nurse before walking quickly back up the hallway, pulling out her phone as she went.

“Sir? I am en route to 214 Channel Avenue, requesting backup.”


End file.
